William Walker & American Filibusters

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Will be interesting to see how (or if) Victoria will portray American Filibusters like William Walker

And what about other "private" enterprises like The white Rajah Brooke of Sarawak or Cecil Rhodes in Rhodesia...

I guess King Leopold of Belgiums private colony in Congo will just be treated like an ordinary Belgian colony...

 

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Such private entrepreneurs must be included because they are extremely important in the events leadning up to the European colonization of Africa and the Pacific. In many cases they forced the hand of the home government as Lüderitz and Peters did with the German in Africa.

Walker did not succeed in making Nicaragua a state in the US. That's why his reputation is tarnished.

I also think the proconsuls like de Brazza and Frederick Lugard that did the initial colonization should be in game.

 

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That's a real good question. I'm not as familiar with the other examples but just finished reading a book on the Belgian Congo. It's tough to imagine a situation that would re-create Leopold's personal control over the Congo. Good luck to the designers on that one...

 

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Obviously the player will want to benefit himself, not the Monarch, so I guess, historical realism will again conflict with playability.

 

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Governments sometimes allowed private companies to run the colonial administration in order to cut administration costs. They were notorious for mistreatment of the native popultaion, and in some scandalous cases, the government had to reestablish direct control. It should be possible to "rent out" provinces to private companies to simulate this.

 

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Originally posted by BarristerBoy
That's a real good question. I'm not as familiar with the other examples but just finished reading a book on the Belgian Congo. It's tough to imagine a situation that would re-create Leopold's personal control over the Congo. Good luck to the designers on that one...

The Congo Free state was set up by the Berlin Conference in 1884 with Lepold of Belgium as king. I think that event can be simulated. The Free State will be annexed by Belgium in 19-something (can't remember) in a "Congo Scandal event".

 

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Originally posted by Ighelkott
Governments sometimes allowed private companies to run the colonial administration in order to cut administration costs. They were notorious for mistreatment of the native popultaion, and in some scandalous cases, the government had to reestablish direct control. It should be possible to "rent out" provinces to private companies to simulate this.

It's rather that the British government allowed Chartered Companies to conduct colonial ventures at their own expense. These were basically direct copies of the old East India Company. The Germans copied this practice.

Because none of the the colonies paid their way, the companies all went bankrupt and had to be saved by their governments as a matter of national prestige.

So it should really be the other way around.

It woudl be nice if various contries got "conquistadors" trekking across Africa laying claim to colonies without the player having any control over their actions.

Bismarck and Gladstone had no interest in overseas expansion but had their hands forced by the combination of patriotic public opinion and "heroic" explorers.